Apr 27 2015
This Week’s Underappreciated Movies
Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.
Windy’s Pick of the Week: 12 Angry Men
If you love court-room dramas and you haven’t seen this? You’ve been cheating yourself. It’s weird to recommend a classic like this as “underappreciated” – but I can no longer assume that we’ve all seen these great films, as generations shift and movies that everybody knew are slowly forgotten. Twelve jurors in a murder trial slowly file into the room to decide on a verdict. It’s hot, it’s Friday afternoon, and they just want to finish and go home. Eleven voices agree “guilty” – and the voice of that one dissenting man becomes the driving force of a play entirely about perception and memory, bias and assumptions. The 1957 film has an amazing cast – Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman, Jack Warden, Ed Begley… This movie is the definition of “drama.”
Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Mr. Vampire
I’ve adored this film ever since I laid eyes on it, because it’s a joyous blend of three things I love: horror, comedy, and martial arts. It’s the story of a Hong Kong mortician and his bumbling assistants, who find themselves plagued by a rogue vampire. I say “rogue” here because most of the vampires they know are docile “clients” of a fellow mortician, who keeps them obedient via little yellow scrolls that he sticks to their foreheads. Oh, and did I mention that the vampires hop like bunnies? And that Ricky Lau directed it? And that Sammo Hung produced it? Yeah, it’s daffy and glorious.
Apr 23 2015
Episode 63: But What About the Lacrosse?
, with special guest: Kate Cornish
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Dear listeners, we are well aware that we are middle-aged ladies, so we brought on young’un Kate Cornish from the North Star Roller Girls to discuss teen comedies!
(Okay, so we admit Kate is old enough to have PhD and we’re talking about teen comedies of the late 1990s, but hey! We’re trying!)
If you feel brave enough to drink along with two roller girls and Melissa, we suggest The Gaucho Club Oak Cask Malbec. It is tasty and its Argentinian ways pleased us greatly.
Show notes behind the cut!
Apr 20 2015
This Week’s Underappreciated Movies
Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.
Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Freaked
Okay, so, once upon a time, Alex Winter (the other guy from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) remade Todd Browning’s Freaks, except it was a zany comedy with Randy Quaid as the villain and Bobcat Goldthwait as a man with a sock puppet for a head and all the makeup effects looked like they erupted from MAD Magazine and there’s a character named Oritz the Dog Boy who sounds suspiciously like an uncredited Keanu Reeves having the time of his life. Oh, and Mr. T was there, too.
If you’re wondering why I’m typing while having a fever dream, I assure you, this film exists, and you should see it.
Windy’s Pick of the Week: Bride & Prejudice
A Bollywood adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel! All the romance, with Bollywood dance numbers – but no kissing (Jane Austen would’ve approved). If you’ve never watched Bollywood, this is a good entry point. The film is mostly in English, it stars the stunning Aishwarya Rai, and it’s telling a quintessentially Western story. In this retelling, the central conflict between Lalita (our Elizabeth analog) and Darcy is his ignorance of and lack of respect for Indian culture – an apt and relevant point of contention that also allows for a satisfying resolution. The Bollywood song/dance numbers are not as polished and amazing as some other films, but they are charming and catchy, and the Indian twist on beloved characters is delightfully fresh.
